Blackout 2003

At a bit after four in the afternoon, on a hot and sticky Thursday, August 14, 2003, I was sitting at the computer when we took a power hit. Not all that unusual for this area on a hot summer day. But it is usually a momentary thing. This time, however, the lights didn't just flicker off, and the fan didn't just stutter.

Time passed, and the silence, humidity and heat quickly grew oppressive. The baby was in his swing asleep in the up-to-now air conditioned bedroom. I called my husband's office in New York City and left a message-- can you call the power company, the whole neighborhood appears to be out again. Kev tends to carry the bills around with him, so I figured he would have the number. More time passed, so I dug out an old power bill and made the call myself. Only instead of the usual automated trouble line, I got a fast busy signal. Great, I thought, there's something wrong with their phone.

Half an hour later, Kev calls to tell me its the entire Northeast, plus Canada affected! He reminds me that I have my little battery operated travel TV, which he happens to remember is on my bookcase. Cool. So I turn it on and learn how far reaching the problem is. They are talking about the great NYC blackouts of 1965 and 1977. While I am too young to remember 1965, and the 77 incident I experienced only indirectly via the TV in our rented cabin up at Lake George, I do remember my Dad wondering if the apartment building would be looted or burned down before we got home from vacation.

Kev works in a pretty high crime area in downtown Brooklyn, so I was a bit worried about what would happen if he were stuck there after dark. I was also beginning to panic about how the baby was going to handle the heat. I had been thinking I might have to take a taxi (I don't drive any more) to the mall and hang out there till the power came back, but the mall would be in the dark too. In fact, nearly all the businesses here were closed or closing. My friend  called me, and I asked her "if you are going to run out to the store, could you please get me some ice?" She snapped that I should go myself. I said I would, if I didn't have Mikro. She proceeded to advise me to saddle him up in the stroller and push him the half mile to the store and back in the nearly 100 degree heat. I bit my tongue and told her I did not think I would do that, because he does not tolerate heat well. (And I thought, how the hell do I cool him down when we get back, since I don't even have a working fan, much less air conditioning!) She pushed it further. I extricated myself from the conversation before I lost control of my temper, but just barely.

I realized it was time to do the emergency preparedness thing, and popped the boy back in the swing so I could go deal with gathering matches, candles and flashlights. I had just gotten done when Kev caled to say his buddy J was in the area and would stop by and help me with the generator. (Another friend gave it to us after not needing it for Y2K.) When J arrived, we did a futile run for ice and water. Everything was either closed or sold out. Then J dragged the generator out and set it up. We got the refrigerator and one fan running. We parked the boy in front of the fan, to his vast relief. We ate the mint chocolate chip ice cream I had in the freezer, and offered to store milk and formula for my neighbors with small kids.

Then the lights came back around 745 pm. We unhooked the generator and J moved the fridge back against the wall. J had a quick nuked dinner, then drove home to the City.

Kev was stuck at the office, since neither the NYC subways nor the commuter rails were running. It was way too hot to hike across the Brooklyn Bridge only to roast on the sidewalk outside Grand Central Terminal, which was closed. So he slept at the office. Apart from not being able to get anything to eat or drink except the vending machine contents at work, it wasn't so bad for Kev since his company has a generator on their rooftop and the A/C for the computer room was up at all times. He was worried about us, and we really missed him, but everyone was safe. The power stayed on all night, and Mikro was able to sleep comforrtably in the air conditioned bed room.

All that changed at 945 am, when the power went out once again. This time it stayed out until 404 pm. With the humidity, the heat index was over 100. I couldn't run the generator myself because I couldn't move the gas cans or the fridge with my neck & back problems, so we stayed in the bedroom, which kept cool for awhile, and came downstairs only after no trace of coolness was left. Mikro  was not a happy baby. I stripped him down to his diaper, and frequently wiped him down with cool washcloths, but he was miserable.

Not until 230 did I hear from Kev that Metro North had trains running sporadically. He found a city bus that would take him into Manhattan, and walked from the Bowery all the way up to GCT, where he was able to get a train home. He walked in the door around 8pm.

The power has stayed on since then, knock wood...